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Hour of the Wolf (Vargtimmen)

Rated:
NR
Format: DVD
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 56 ratings
IMDb7.5/10.0
Additional DVD options Edition Discs
Price
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DVD
January 31, 2006 		—
1
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— $34.39
DVD
April 20, 2004
Special Edition
1
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— $49.95
DVD — —
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Genre Horror
Format NTSC
Contributor Ingmar Bergman, Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, et al. Directed by: Ingmar Bergman
Language Swedish
Runtime 1 hour and 27 minutes

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Product Description

The delicate, dangerous line between genius and insanity is brilliantly plumbed in this haunting film from Ingmar Bergman that's "a dazzling flow of surrealism, expressionism and full-blooded Gothic horror" (The Observer). Haunted by demons past and present, artist Johan Borg (Max von Sydow) fights a losing battle to retain his sanity and maintain his artistic prowess. His wife Alma (Liv Ullmann), desperate to help him, finds herself starting to share his hallucinations. But as Johan's mind continues to unravel, Alma is forced to choose between her love and her life.

Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
  • Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.1 x 5.42 x 0.58 inches; 2.88 ounces
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 27 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ January 31, 2006
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English, French, Spanish
  • Language ‏ : ‎ Swedish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ MGM (Video & DVD)
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0000YEEGW
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 56 ratings

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
56 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Mike
5.0 out of 5 stars The Not So Innocents. DVD Features Below.
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2008
Verified Purchase
What is the hour of the wolf? "It is the hour when most people die, when sleep is deepest, when nightmares are more real. It is the hour when the sleepless are haunted by their deepest fear, when ghosts and demons are most powerful. The Hour of the Wolf is also the hour when most children are born." This is one of the conversations artist Johan Borg has with his wife Alma by candlelight in their home on the windy deserted island whose only neighbors are a family of perverted ghosts living in a castle.
In other stories Johan tells of when he was a boy and how his parents punishment was to lock him in a closet only before letting him know of the little man that lived in their that eats toes and describes as he climbed in terror from the sounds of the man. He tells of the old woman from the castle and how when she takes off her hat her face comes of with it (this we will see). Johan also confides to Alma of the time when he was fishing and the boy he killed in a rage. These conversations take place while both struggle to stay awake till the sun rises for fear of what will happen once the candles die out and the nightmares that await. At one point Johan keeps lighting a match in front of his face as he talks which is very eerie and effective.
The film and what I have described is about Johan losing his sanity as an artist trying to regain his greatness. We are guests to his nightmare and like Alma are confused of what is true and what are hallucinations. I would suggest to not try and make sense of the film but allow it to seep into the deeper areas of your mind. I found it somewhat confusing after viewing but the images and the eerie feeling it left me with stayed.
This is said to be Bergman's first horror film but I found The Seventh Seal - Criterion Collection and deaths pursuit to have elements of horror.
DVD SUPPLEMENTS
The Search for sanity featurette - On Camera interviews with Liv Ullman and Erland Josephson - Audio commentary by Bergman biographer Marc Gervais - Bergman at work and hour of the wolf photo galleries - Original theatrical trailer.
7 people found this helpful
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bongo
4.0 out of 5 stars Ingmar's Middle Period Problem Play.
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2009
Verified Purchase
A man, Johan Borg, and a woman, Alma, go to live on an island. The man is a painter and he has problems sleeping. He and the woman are staying up one night and he tells her about the people he sees in the dreams - the bird-man, the woman with the hat, eventually he becomes exhausted and falls alseep before dawn.

They become accustomed to living on the island. Johan goes around and does some sketches. Alma finds his diary under the bed and reads it. At one point Johan is on a rocky coast and a boy gets into a fight with him and Johan kills him and dumps him in the water. It's hard to tell if this is a dream or not. Bergman shows the episode but turns the sound off. It's like a silent movie within the rest of the movie. But it might have really happened - we got to this episode when Johan was confessing to Alma that the scratch/bruise he had wasn't from a snake like he had told her.

A neighbor, the man who owns the island comes and invites Johan and Alma to his house for a dinner party. The food might not be so great but he can promise good wine he says. They take him up on it. It's a surreal dinner. They are treated to a puppet show where Bergman apparently filmed a real actor and made it look like he was a marrionette. (Clever trick). The people at the party are obscurely threatening and it didn't look like Johan and Alma were having a swell time.

After that the movie becomes a mash-up of dreams and reality, making it almost impossible to explain what happened. It reminded me of Stindberg's A Dream Play actually.

I liked this movie despite the fact that it was one of the least accessible films I've ever seen. (Even for Ingmar this was out there.) But, it had a convincing air of menace, a great look and feel, and hey, it was definitely different.

If you're new to I.B. you might try Smiles of a Summer Night or Wild Strawberries first. If your hip to Bergman's middle period: The Silence, Persona, Passion of Anna, Shame - you'll likely dig this too.
10 people found this helpful
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Carl Tait
5.0 out of 5 stars Woefully underrated
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2001
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"Hour of the Wolf" is one of Bergman's finest films, but it is relatively little-known even among his fans. It is a dark, disturbing portrait of encroaching insanity that skillfully blurs the line between reality and increasingly deranged fantasies. The supporting cast is especially memorable, blending Gothic horror with black humor. The leader of the fantasy creatures bears a strong resemblance to Bela Lugosi, and it's hard to believe that the likeness is coincidental.
Some viewers have complained that this film lacks the meaningful symbolism of many other Bergman works. Though arguably true, this criticism doesn't seem relevant here. The images in "Hour of the Wolf" are chosen for their disquieting gut-level impact, not for grand symbolic reasons. People who enjoy surrealism, 1930s horror movies, and intimate character studies will find this film thoroughly rewarding.
6 people found this helpful
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Joseph Mead
1.0 out of 5 stars MGM messed it up
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2004
I like this movie but unfortunately MGM messed up the aspect ratio of the film. This film was originally 1.37:1 not 1.66:1 as it's presented here. I guess they felt it was necessary to cut the actors' heads off in this print. Perhaps one day they will correct this mistake but for now, stay away from this dvd.
12 people found this helpful
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Parker E. Monroe II
5.0 out of 5 stars Bergman also a musician
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2018
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Perfect early Bergman film. One of his most brilly and most musical.
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paula a holley
5.0 out of 5 stars Haven't had, a cancer 2xsee, this,
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2015
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Haven't had,a cancer 2xsee,this,classic but greatly looking forward to it
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Top reviews from other countries

Mike
5.0 out of 5 stars Vargtimmen
Reviewed in Canada on June 23, 2009
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Two people arrive by boat to an island, as the boat leaves you wonder if they will ever leave. Max von Sidow decends to madness as Liv Ullman tries to keep him sane; the demons of the island consume him and tear down his personality. The Hour of the Wolf is that hour before dawn when nightmares fill your thoughts, babies are born and people die... vargtimmen. These are actors you can watch forever, especially Ingrid Thulin who is masterful.
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degrant
5.0 out of 5 stars Arguably Bergman's Finest Critique of Art and the Artist
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 17, 2004
Verified Purchase
Relatively few younger Bergman fans have probably seen "Hour of the Wolf" as it has never been released on vhs or dvd in the UK before and is rarely revived at cinemas. Of Bergman's films I had not seen before the NFT retrospective last year (which included "Sawdust and Tinsel", "Autumn Sonata", "The Passion of Anna" and "Shame", this made the greatest impact.
Needless to say the cinematography is stunning and while neither Liv Ullman nor Max von Sydow is as magnificent as in other Bergman roles, the acting of the cast is uniformly excellent. "Hour of the Wolf" has many similarities with other films (a character by the name of "Vogler" appears in a host of Bergman's films and the scene about Johan's being caned as a boy foreshadows the semi-autobiographical "Fanny and Alexander") but is perhaps closest in feel to "the Magician" in the depiction of the position of artists in society. However, "Hour of the Wolf", while no less gripping is much darker and more surreal. Some of the devices are new and welcome additions to the bows of Bergman and cinematographer Sven Nykvist, and combine to make a genuinely unsettling film.
It has been remarked that many a Bergman film features a play within a play. Here Bergman's favourite opera, "the Magic Flute", is featured and, indeed, the film stands in part as Johan's trial by fire and water. To affocianodos and those with a bare knowledge of Bergman, "Hour of the Wolf" is recommended viewing and, to the latter group, if not perhaps the quintessential Bergman film, as good a display of the the man's directoial flair as any other.
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Alvin Soul
1.0 out of 5 stars Do you read Italian or Swedish?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 16, 2012
Verified Purchase
The description of this DVD includes a reference to "Subtitles : English" but that doesn't tell the whole story. What are included in the DVD are "Hard of hearing" English subtitles. If you haven't come across these horrific things, whilst they translate the dialogue they also include comments such as "people laughing", "door slamming" and "dog barking", get it?
I accept that there is probably a (fairly small) market for these type of subtitles, but the inclusion of only subtitles of this nature in a film should be made very clear ; for me they make a film unwatchable.
I would return this DVD to Amazon but unfortunately had removed the wrapper and started to watch the film before becoming aware of this drawback.
So unless you can read the Italian or Swedish "normal "subtitles, I would advise you to steer well clear of this version of the film.
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Paul Semicolon
5.0 out of 5 stars Eurgh....! Horrible..! 5 stars.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 27, 2014
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I find it very strange that Amazon lists movies with the principle actor alongside rather than the director. Apparently this is a Max von Sydow film. And another I am reviewing today, 'Mirror', is an Anatoly Solonitsyn film. Wrong, Amazon, WRONG. No points for you. 'Hour of the Wolf' is a Ingmar Bergman film, and 'Mirror' is a film by Andrei Tarkovsky. It's the director who defines a film and it's the director's particular style that determines whether you are likely to enjoy it or not. A film is a collaborative art form, but it is the director who is clearly the 'author' of a film.

Rant over.

Hour of the Wolf is a truly terrifying horror film. I saw it years ago and it has given me nightmares ever since. I wanted to see it again but haven't felt in the mood. (I bought this DVD some years ago.) Madness and cruelty. Predatory beasts in semi-human form. Ritual humiliation and sacrifice. Also a touching, though tragic love story. I don't want to give the plot away so I can't say much more.

One very memorable scene is where the Max von Sydow character times a minute on his watch - a minute of silence. The tension is unbearable. Nothing happens in that minute - they are just waiting for the minute of silence to be over - but it's agonising. Wonderfully acted. (I timed that 'minute' and found in fact it was only about 25 seconds!)

If you like Bergman and/or you like horror films then you may well like this one. If you don't like Bergman and/or don't like horror films then will ABSOLUTELY HATE IT.
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Technophobic
5.0 out of 5 stars Dark and surreal.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2015
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I had never seen this film before although I had seen tantalizing clips of it. I found it had the quality of a particularly disturbing anxiety dream. I like it! I feel encouraged to explore more or Mr Bergman's work.
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